Well, I'm going out to eat and there's a Pontiac dealership near by. And yes, I'm in Canada so I'll get to try out the Pursuit.

I'm hoping that I can make a non-biased judgement. I've got a feeling I won't though because I'm probably going to end up looking for flaws. I'm aware of that though and I'll try to compensate for that.

I'm going to compare it with its predacessor, the Sunfire as I remember everything I hated about that. I couldn't find one thing I liked with the Sunfire such as pedal position, feel of wheel, child-protect reverse, material, ride etc.

Be back in an hour or so.

 

i owned a 2002 fire, i liked it, not an exceptional car but underrated for 12K CAD

 

Okay, so I'm back. Roads are free of snow and ice so I had a decent go at it. I tried really hard not to be biased so here goes.

My first two complaints go together. Shifting through the gears was awkward. The throw was incredibly long and wasn't as smooth as I'd expect a new car to be. It never wanted to go into 1st or 2nd without a fight. The clutch pedal did not engage until right near the top making feathering pretty weird. In this car, you did not have to fully depress the clutch pedal. I'd say about a third to a half way down is when there is actually a detectable tug. With the arc being so long, there is much wasted pedal movement.

The shift knob was kind of like holding a rubber ball. Not comfortable. Should not be as wide and should arch forward a bit more so you can get your fingers right under to yank back. Easily remedied (I hope). I did not try unscrewing it though.

Acceleration didn't seem as responsive as I had hoped BUT I believe that is my fault. My ability to shift quickly in the Pursuit and my unfamiliarity with its clutch's engagement point is to blame there. When it did engage, the wheels did squeel in 2nd. I'm sure they would have in 3rd as well if I wanted to.

After getting used to the shifting, I was driving okay. Just okay. The steering wheel didn't give you much useable surface area to grip. This was due to the bottom part of the steering wheel. Instead of two spokes going straight down, there should be one. The steering itself wasn't tight enough. Sharp but short yanks of the steering wheel did not make the car pull to the side. This may be due to the tires and suspension. I can only imagine this to be a safety feature so someone less stable with the wheel won't plow into the person beside them. Holding the wheel straight the car did not always keep the car straight. I had to make more adjustments than I'm used to. Either that or they were more noticeable as I may have pulled to the left or right more.

The ride was soft and comfortable (due to crazy huge wheel gap; 5 skinny male fingers). However, this made sharp turns scary. There is no more child-proof reverse anymore. I hated having to lift that thing to go into reverse in the Sunfire. As I was used to a 6th gear, I almost shifted from 5th to 6th and thankfully it didn't go through. That lockout is all you need. That's how it should be. The rear view mirror was pretty firm. The armrest on the door got in the way when I wanted to adjust my seat though. The seats weren't the most comfortable but it wasn't uncomfortable. The seat height seems too high even after lowering it to the botton.

I never expected the interior to be anything spectacular but it fell below my expectations from seeing pictures of the interior. The vents seem to be part of the dash's mold. They don't seem to come out as a separate piece. The silver piece running from left to right did not have a clean cut near the radio controls. The various plastics felt hard but hollow. The steering wheel wasn't made of a grippy material. Seatbelf kept doing something funny near the pillar like it was caught. The e-brake felt too chunky.

My opinion... To me it still felt like a Sunfire. The brake pedal didn't seem as far away from the gas pedal as was the case of the Sunfire (according to memory). But it's still higher up than what I'm used to. I think the brake and gas pedals at rest should be at the same height.

It's an okay car if you're looking for a nice, soft ride. It's not for those who enjoy spirited driving. If you want a car that will react to a flick of the wrist, this is not it. Too much movement ("range") for the clutch pedal, shifter and

When I got back in my car, one of the first things that happened is that I yanked the shifter back forgetting mine doesn't go nearly that far. And I don't have a short shifter.

Well, that's my review. I'm hoping the Cobalt SS/SC feels a lot better when you're shifting and turning.

 

You'd probably be able to drive the Pursuit/Cobalt much better than me. The pedals seemed to be positioned a little strangely for me in all the other Pontiacs I sat in waiting for the salesperson to pull the car up.

Well, I'm going to look at the other reviews to see how mine compares.